June 17, 2005

The "New" Layton

"We have a problem," Robby had written in his reply to my e-mail. "Give me a call or let me know when it would be a good time to call you." After giving him a call, it was quickly revealed that Layton Hall would not be a men's dorm next year, it would be a women's dorm. Because of the 25-year plan at Campbell and the subsequent lack of space caused by extrication of key university staff offices, all Honors women on campus were moved from their houses into alternative dorms. The entire women's campus, however, became so full by this and the incoming class of freshmen, that another site was needed. Robby fought "tooth and nail" but Layton was chosen as the overflow site. Thus, the "new" men's campus honors/graduate dorm is now the 3rd floor of Sauls Hall. I told him this was ironic for me, considering I lived there my first year. He laughed. Sauls is argueably the smallest men's dorm on campus, yet I have enjoyed staying there one year out of my past two at Campbell. Michael Sellers, my roommate, said oppositely that he could not stand to stay another night in the dorm. Size is part of the issue. Layton has many strong points. Each room has an individual AC unit (Sauls does not), is carpeted, and is entirely indoors while Sauls can often be loud (though not bad on the 3rd floor), is not carpeted and has inner hallways that can get pretty cold or hot depending on the season. It is a lot to take in at once, but it looks like my semester is going to be a bit different than I thought it was going to be, both good and bad.